This is a difficult time for many of those who believe the game will forever be tainted by the Performance Enhancing Drug era.
I refuse to call it the “Steroid Era” as many of the so-called cheaters never actually took a steroid. If you’re going to label something, it may as well be accurate.
I will admit that some of the things MLB players did during this time disgusts me. It’s not so much the fact that they cheated, but that they were so smug and arrogant that they thought they could get away with it.
So here we are with Hall of Fame ballots in our hands with blank looks on our faces. How are we supposed to vote? From this point on, how are we supposed to determine which players from this era deserve enshrinement and which deserve to be left outside with their noses pressed against the windows of the Hall of Fame?
In my opinion the players have to be taken on a case by case basis.
It is patently unfair to just take the players from the PED Era and lump them all together in one uniform group. There are some players that have never been linked to a PED, but have had guilt projected upon them nonetheless. I’m in favor of protecting them because they are being hunted as well.
I am going to look at not only PED users, but also those who have been unfairly targeted by some as being guilty by association.
I know this is a passionate subject for many, but passion should not suspend a person’s rationality. Unfortunately for many, it does.